Main:Giulia Steingruber
St. Gallen, Switzerland |Row 3 title = Height |Row 3 info = 5 ft. 3 in. |Row 4 title = Club |Row 4 info = TZ Fürstenland / TV Gossau, Magglingen |Row 5 title = Coach(es) |Row 5 info = Zoltan Jordanov |Row 6 title = Current status |Row 6 info = Active}}Giulia Steingruber (born 24 March 1994) is a Swiss artistic gymnast and 2012 and 2016 Olympian. She is the 2016 Olympic Vault bronze medalist, the 2017 World Vault bronze medalist, the 2015 European All-Around Champion, the 2015 European Games Vault and Floor Exercise Champion, a three time (2013, 2014, 2016) European Vault Champion, the 2016 European Floor Champion, the 2015 European Vault silver medalist, the 2012 European Vault bronze medalist and a two time (2014 and 2015) European Floor bronze medalist. She is also the 2015 European Games All-Around silver medalist and Balance Beam bronze medalist, and a four time (2013, 2014, 2017, 2019) Swiss National All-Around Champion. Her best events are vault and floor exercise. Career 2011 In the spring, Steingruber competed at the European Championships, placing ninth in the all-around (behind compatriot Ariella Kaeslin) and sixth on vault. She was selected to compete at the World Championships in Tokyo in October. She placed sixteenth in the all-around and fifth on vault. 2012 She won the bronze medal on vault in the 2012 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships. Competing at the 2012 Summer Olympics as the only women's gymnast from Switzerland, she finished 14th in the women's individual all-around with a score of 56.148. Steingruber continued to compete after the Olympics. She competed in the Swiss Cup Zürich, where she won silver. She also competed at the Stuttgart World Cup, where she won bronze in the all-around (missing second place by just 0.001). 2013 In March, she was announced as a member of the Swiss team for the City of Jesolo Trophy.Jesolo Later that month, she competed at the La Roche-sur-Yon World Cup, where she won both the vault and uneven bars. At the Doha World Cup, she won bronze on vault. In April, she competed at the European Championships. She originally tied for fourth in the all-around with Romania's Diana Bulimar until a tie breaker was induced and the fourth place finish was awarded to Bulimar. In the vault final, she won gold over Bulimar's compatriot Larisa Iordache and Netherlands' Noël Van Klaveren. In the floor final, she placed sixth. In September, she swept the Swiss National Championships and was promptly named to the Swiss team for the World Championships. In qualifications, Steingruber competed in the fifth subdivision. She qualified eighth to the all-around, fifth to the vault final, and seventh to the floor exercise final. In the all-around, she competed in the second rotational group and finished seventh. In vault finals, she competed first. Her handspring Rudi vault scored a 15.500, and her double-twisting Yurchenko scored a 14.966, averaging out to a 15.233. She finished fourth. In the floor exercise final, she competed fifth. She underrotated her first pass but performed the rest of the routine well, scoring a 14.333. She finished fifth, tied with USA's Kyla Ross. Following the World Championships, Steingruber had a packed schedule. She was selected to compete at the Arthur Gander Memorial in late October, the Swiss Cup in early November, and the Stuttgart World Cup in late November. She won silver in the all-around at the Gander Memorial, bronze at the Swiss Cup, and placed fourth at the Stuttgart World Cup. 2014 In January, she was announced as a competitor for the American Cup in early March.American Cup In early February, she was announced as a competitor for the Tokyo World Cup in April.Tokyo World Cup She had three great routines, but stumbled a little on her second pass on floor. She won the bronze behind USA's Elizabeth Price and Brenna Dowell. Later that month, she injured her knee in training and withdrew from the Doha and Tokyo World Cup competitions.injury, Doha & Tokyo withdrawal She recovered well enough to compete at the Osijek World Cup, winning floor exercise gold, vault silver, balance beam bronze, and placing fifth on bars. In May, she competed at the European Championships. She defended her vault title, won bronze on floor exercise, and placed eighth with her team and on balance beam (after a fall). At the Swiss Nationals in August, she defended almost all her National titles from last year, except balance beam, where she won silver. The following week, she competed at a friendly meet against Germany and Romania, winning all-around silver, and team, vault, balance beam, and floor exercise bronze. In October, she competed at the World Championships in Nanning, China. Though she had a fall on floor exercise in qualifications and did not make the final, she qualified to the all-around and vault final. The Swiss team finished nineteenth, qualifying a full team to the next World Championships. She stepped out of bounds on her third pass on floor exercise and finished fifteenth in the all-around, and tied with Great Britain's Claudia Fragapane for fifth place in the vault final. After Nanning, Steingruber compete at the Arthur Gander Memorial in Chiasso, Switzerland, placing fourth in the all-around. She competed at the Swiss Cup Zurich, but injured her ankle in the finals when she miscalculated her block on vault. She placed fourth with teammate Claudio Capelli. 2015 Steingruber returned to competition at the Austrian Team Open in late February, winning all-around gold and team silver. She went on to win vault and floor exercise gold and balance beam silver at the Doha World Cup in March. At the European Championships in Montpellier, France, Steingruber qualified first to the vault and floor final, second to the all-around, and seventh to the uneven bars final. She made history for her country by becoming the first Swiss gymnast to win the European All-Around title, ahead of Russia's Maria Kharenkova and Great Britain's Ellie Downie. In the event finals, she was unable to defend her vault title, and instead won silver behind Russia's Maria Paseka. She went on to place sixth on bar and repeat her bronze medal finish on floor. In May, she won bronze on vault and bars at the Varna World Cup. In June, Steingruber competed at the inaugural European Games in Baku. Though the Swiss team only finished sixth in the team final, she won gold on vault and floor (after a step out of bounds), silver in the all-around, and bronze on beam. Steingruber was named to the Swiss team for the World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland in October. There, she helped the Swiss team qualify a full team to the Test Event. Individually, she qualified to vault and floor finals and qualified second to the all-around, behind reigning World Champion Simone Biles. She finished fifth in the all-around, besting her personal best of seventh place back in 2013. In the vault final, she sustained a knee injury, finishing last and pulling out of the floor exercise final. 2016 Steingruber returned to competition at the Stuttgart World Cup. She had the highest all-around score in qualifications and won bronze in the team final. She went on to win vault and floor exercise gold and place seventh on balance beam at the Doha World Cup. In April, she competed at the Olympic Test Event. Although Switzerland improved from their performance at the World Championships, they only placed sixth and didn't qualify a full team to the Olympics. Steingruber did win the all-around at the Test Event. In May, Steingruber competed at the Varna World Cup, winning vault and floor exercise gold and uneven bars silver. In June, she competed at the European Championships in front of a home crowd in Bern. In qualifications, she posted the second-highest all-around score, behind Russia's Angelina Melnikova. She helped Switzerland place fourth in the team final, and placed sixth on uneven bars, but also clinched two gold medals, vault and floor exercise. In early July, she was named Switzerland's sole gymnast for the Olympics.Olympics She went on to compete at a friendly meet against gymnasts from Germany, France, Austria, Romania, and Venezuela, winning gold in the all-around and placing fourth with her team. Rio Olympics Prior to qualifications, Steingruber served as the Swiss flag bearer during the Olympic opening ceremony. She competed in the second subdivision of qualifications, qualifying fifteenth to the all-around, third to vault, and fifth to floor exercise. She placed tenth in the all-around. Prior to qualifications, Steingruber submitted a new vault to the FIG: a handspring-entry front layout with a double twist. However, she opted not to perform it in the vault final for safety reasons. Despite this, her vault average was enough to snag a bronze medal, a first for a Swiss female gymnast. She struggled in the floor exercise final, putting her hands down on two tumbling passes and finishing eighth. 2017 Steingruber had surgery on her foot in January and resumed training in April.surgery She returned to competition at the Swiss National Championships, winning all-around and vault gold and uneven bars silver. She was named to represent Switzerland at the World Championships, and surprised everyone by how close she had come to her full strength in such a short time. She qualified to the all-around, where she placed an impressive seventh, and the vault final, where she won bronze, her first ever medal at a World Championships. In November, she won the Swiss Cup. 2018 Steingruber began her season at the Stuttgart World Cup in March, winning silver with the Swiss team. In June, she competed at the Koper World Cup in Slovenia, winning vault and floor exercise gold, balance beam silver, and placing sixth on bars. In early July, she competed at the Sainté Gym Cup in France, but suffered an injury on floor exercise and withdrew. The injury was diagnosed as a torn ACL and damaged meniscus and tibia.torn ACL, damaged meniscus and tibia 2019 Steingruber returned to competition at the Swiss National Championships in September. She reclaimed her all-around title, and won vault, beam, and floor, and placed fourth on bars. In October, she competed at the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, placing eighteenth in the all-around. Her results in Stuttgart qualified her as an individual to the 2020 Olympics. Medal Count Floor Music 2013-2014 - "Love & Loss" by Two Steps From Hell 2014-2015 - "Resolve" by Nathan Lanier 2017 - “Torn (Redux)” by Nathan Lanier/ “The Ballad of Uri” by Maos Hadjidakis/ “Ad Martem” by Havasi 2019 - "Different World" by Alan Walker/ "Ice Dub" by Techno Salt Shaker References